First Production Of Human Monoclonal Antibodies In Chicken Eggs Published In Nature Biotechnology

Origen Therapeutics today announced the first published scientific report of fully functional, human sequence monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) produced in chickens. The antibodies were expressed solely in the chicken oviduct and deposited into egg white in concentrations of 1-3 milligrams per egg. Moreover, antibodies produced in this manner demonstrated 10-100 fold greater cell-killing ability (ADCC) compared to therapeutic antibodies produced by conventional cell culture methods. The new report was published in the September issue of Nature Biotechnology by researchers from Origen Therapeutics and their collaborators at Medarex, Texas A&M University and the University of California, Los Angeles. A research brief commenting on the potential impact of this development for the production of human therapeutic proteins was also published in the September issue of Nature Medicine.